MATCHMAKING FOR BEGINNERS is going to be here before you know it–like, in less than two weeks.

Yes, apparently it’s been bumped UP in the schedule, and the hardcover (hardcover!) will be available from Amazon on May 1st, rather than June 1st, when it was originally scheduled. Who knew that this kind of thing could happen? The universe works in mysterious ways. Sometimes, it snows all through April…and then the universe decides to give you your new book a whole month early.

I have to say that I am so crazy about this new book. It’s because it has a little magic in it. I kind of believe in magic and coincidences and manifestations (like cardinals in the front yard whenever I am thinking about my dad)…nothing I really talk about too much because, well, why get into an argument about it with somebody who might possibly need to point out that there is hardly any magic anywhere, and cardinals are all over the place. Ahem.

So, as so often happens characters show up who would be delighted to talk about what you don’t want to talk about. In my case, it was Blix and Marnie who bounced in. Blix is 84 years old and owns a brownstone in Brooklyn–and she tends to all kinds of misfits and characters in her building, trying to fix their lives and find love for them, only she’s causing trouble everywhere she goes, even though she means well. She decides to leave her house to Marnie, who happens to be the jilted wife of Blix’s grand-nephew. Marnie, newly engaged to someone new and ready to embrace a conventional life, has no time for a whole brownstone full of heartbreak. But…well. You’ll see.

Want to hear what other people have already said about it? Here are some early reviews!

“I can’t remember the last time I loved the characters of a novel as much I loved those in Matchmaking for Beginners. Maddie Dawson has spun a story as magical as her delightful protagonist, Blix, who can’t help but cause chaos as she brings the right people together in the most unconventional ways. Every page of this novel was a joy to read.” —Camille Pagán, bestselling author of Life and Other Near-Death Experiences and Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties

“Matchmaking for Beginners walked straight into my heart, trailing a shower of golden sparkles. Dawson has created a magical world inhabited by characters so engaging and real it seems plausible they might drop by for a cup of coffee. By turns funny, wise, and poignant, this is a story about falling in love—with the painful, messy, joyful business of living.” —Kerry Anne King, bestselling author of Closer Home and I Wish You Happy

“This is a story of love: both unrequited and reciprocated romantic love, and the sweet love of a friendship that forms between two women at opposite ends of their lives. It’s a gem of a book, written with warmth, humor, and suspense, a testament to the truth that love is everything.” —Nancy Star, bestselling author of Sisters One, Two, Three

“Matchmaking for Beginners is a flat-out delight! Maddie Dawson is a master at creating compulsively readable stories, full of heart and wit, and the kind of characters we wish were real. (Everyone should be blessed with a great-aunt Blix!) I loved every moment of this quirky, charming, feel-good novel!” —Jen Lancaster, New York Times bestselling author of Bitter Is the New Black and The Tao of Martha

Convinced? Want to order your own HARDCOVER copy at a very reduced price? It’s available!